Crookshank's Death
by Jessi28
Summary: Story about how Hermione's friends try to cheer her up over the loss of her cat. DH complaint but not epilogue complaint. Contains various characters but focuses on Hermione.


Disclaimer: As you know, I don't own anything.

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Hermione was sitting in her office at Hogwarts

Hermione was sitting in her office at Hogwarts. As the transfiguration teacher, she had convinced the Ministry that all of the staff should be provided computers and internet access.

They were skeptical of the muggle contraptions at first but Harry Potter also thought that computers would be helpful to Aurors as well as teachers.

So after 3 years, every department in the Ministry had computers. It cut down on the parchment wasting that the interdepartmental memos created because they started sending emails. It cut down on time between responses and it eased some feelings towards muggles in general.

Currently Hermione was typing an email to Harry. It was about her cat, Crookshanks dying. She was crying as she typed and she asked Harry to tell Ron for her because when she tried to send an owl earlier, she had cried the parchment illegible.

After she sent the email, a knock on her door startled her a bit. "Come in," she said out of habit. "Oh, Neville it's so good to see you."

"Hermione, I heard about your cat. I was wondering if there was anything I could get for you or something else I could do that would help." Neville had grown taller and had some muscles from being the Herbology teacher. Pulling weeds all the time in the sun does a body good.

"Neville that's so sweet of you. I don't think it will be necessary though. This is something I have to work through on my own," Hermione sniffed and gave a small sob as Neville got up from the chair across her desk.

"Just promise that you'll ask if you need anything?" he asked looking concerned. "Anytime, anything, I'm here for you Hermione."

"Thank you, Neville. It means a lot to me that I have such caring friends," she tried to smile at him and her lips quivered slightly upward. "I think however, I shall turn in for the evening. George said he'd cover my rounds tonight."

* * *

The Friday following Crookshanks death found Hermione once again sitting in her office alone. She was playing a game of solitaire and feeling a little lonely when someone knocked on her door.

A slew of teachers and friends came into her office before she could say "Come In"

"What….what…" she started but she eventually just closed her mouth and stared at everyone assembled. Harry and Ron were Aurors but never had time to come visit. Ginny was now head of Weasley Wizard Wheezes and was sometimes in Hogsmead long enough to have lunch but not very often. George, the Charms teacher; Neville, the Herbology teacher; Luna, the Astronomy teacher; and Charlie, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher were all there as well.

"We are having a party to cheer you up," Ron said. "Besides, at least now you can get a cat whose face is not smashed in."

Ginny smacked him in the head. "Ron you are an insensitive prick. Don't say anything; just be as comforting a presence as you can manage to be." She turned to Hermione and whispered, "Don't listen to him, he's just angry because the cat was more attractive and was loved more than he ever will be."

"Ginny, that's not nice."

She grinned evilly at Hermione, "So, that doesn't make it any less true."

Everyone in the room chuckled, except Ron. "Well, are we going to break out the booze or what?" he said.

"Draco's bringing up some of his stash from the Dungeon. He should be here any minute," George said.

"No, I will not be a party to teachers getting drunk at school. Go party at the Three Broomsticks without me."

"Sorry, Hermione but you have no choice," someone drawled from the corridor. "We've cleared it with McGonagall and the Room of Requirement is ours for the night."

"You brought this hair brained scheme up to the Headmistress and she said it was okay?"

"Yes, we did and you have no further choice in the matter," Ginny stated.

* * *

After a few drinks of firewhiskey, even Hermione began to feel like partying. They sang out of key, they danced and they drank. They begged Hermione to make a speech.

"Speech, speech, speech," they chanted. Hermione just looked baffled and George yelled, "Say something. It's a party in honor of you!"

"How dreadful, too make a speech out of no where. I don't know what to say. Thanks for the party." She raised her glass and drank to them all.

"More!" rang the cry from the crowd.

"I ain't got no more," she said. "Unless, you want to hear about this joke I heard the other day." They all nodded and she proceeded to tell them about how Robin Hood got started as a myth. "And so you see that the mess, that was Robin Hood, became the myth, that is Robin Hood, because he wouldn't rob from the 'fairly well off and give to the moderately impoverished' and he like to shag women against trees and have sex in odd positions with Maid Marian." Hermione drank the last of her glass of firewhiskey and sat down upon the couch behind her.

Several people were chuckling, Ron was snoring on the floor and Draco was rolling on the floor with laughter. "Brilliant retelling of my cousins joke, I should remember to introduce you so you can share it with him," he said while trying to get himself under control.

"Eddie Izzard is your cousin?" Hermione said incredulously. "But he's a muggle comedian."

"Second cousin Eddie is a squib who makes a living by entertaining muggles with jokes. He's a pretty funny bloke," Draco broke out laughing again. "What else don't we know about the Golden Girl? What other secret passions does she have that she doesn't share wit us?"

"Leave her alone, Draco. She doesn't have to say anything more about what she keeps secret from us, if she doesn't want to," Ginny said.

"But what else could she be hiding? I mean, it's Hermione," Harry said before sitting back on the couch.

"I love hockey," Hermione slurred.

"You mean the muggle sport where they fight all the time and they skate on ice?" Charlie asked.

"Yep, that's the one."

"I can't believe Hermione likes a violent sport! That's so….un-Hermione," Neville said.

"Oh, it's perfectly normal. She just likes men with big sticks," Draco pointed out.

Hermione's face went so red that it was a shade or two redder than Weasley hair. She tried to hide her face behind a pillow but it disappeared.

"Well, that explains why little Ronnekins lost her," George chuckled.

While everyone was laughing, Hermione changed the room to make enough beds for all the party guests. Still blushing, Hermione said she was going to go sleep in her bed and that everyone else was welcome to stay in the Room of Requirement for the night.

As she stepped outside the room, she breathed in the cool night air.

"You didn't ask if any of us wanted to join you," a soft, drawling voice said behind her.

"Draco," she said startled. "You can always sleep in your own bed. I never said you had to stay here."

"Hermione," he groaned. "I want to sleep in your bed."

Hermione looked confused and was opening and closing her mouth trying to form words.

"You looked so cute when you blush and you would even make a cute fish given how cute you look opening and closing your mouth like that," he smile at her.

She opened her mouth again but before she could get anything out, Draco put his finger against her lips to shush her. "Shut up, Hermione," he whispered before lowering his mouth to hers.

* * *

The morning dawned clear and bright with sunshine pouring into Hermione's bedchamber. She stretched and rolled over to face Draco.

"Good morning, Draco."

"Good morning, Mrs. Malfoy."

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A/N: Sorry about the slightly lame ending but I figured that it was a slight twist. Getting Hermione drunk and shagging her senseless seems odd until you find out that they are married. Besides it makes the blushing all the more funny because she's think about Draco's big stick compared to Ron's not so big one and it makes her go completely red.

Also, I want to thanks Eddie Izzard for his Nottingham Twang bit that I listened to while writing this. Thanks to my friend Robert who actually said that I must like hockey because I like guys with big sticks. And finally thanks to all of my reviews that will make me so very happy


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